RICHTER, Johann Paul Friedrich, gen erally known as JEAN Paul., German author: b. Wunsiedel, near Baireuth, Bavaria, 21 March 1763; d. Baireuth, 14 Nov. 1825. 'He was edu cated at Leipzig and became a tutor and school master. In 1794 he turned from teaching to a general literary activity. The prince-primate Dalberg gave him in 1809 an annual pension of 1,000 florins, continued by the king of Ba varia. The fantastic. quality of his genius was at first disconcerting but gradually, says Car lyle, he became considered' not a strange crack brained mixture of enthusiast and buffoon, but a man of infinite humor, sensibility, force and penetration." His style is perhaps one of the most barbarous and his books are quite without structure. His humor, however, is genuine, though frequently' clumsy. He 'affected to despise all literary proportion and teehniqut and is 'recompensed by: having the bulk of hist work .pronounced Monk 'or unreadable. scattered through his writings are the bast of aphorismi and the most' firmly imagined•' passages in German literature. These may serve to account for the interest Carlyle and De Quincy took in him. Outside of Germany he has not been greatly read, though there are various English renderings of his volumes, such as 'Walt and Vult'. by Lee (1846) ; (Titan' by Brooks (1863); 'Flower, Fruit and Thorn Pieces' by Ewing (1877) ; and 'Levan' by Wood (1887). His first novel, 'Die unsicht bare Loge' ((The Invisible Lodge') appeared in 1793. It was followed by (1794) ; (Biographische Belustigungen unter der Gehirnschale einer Riesin' ((Biographical Recreations under the Skull of a Giantess,' 1796) ; (Leben des Quintus Fixlein' (1796) ; (Blumen, Frucht und Dornenstficke) Fruit and Thorn Pieces,' 1796) ; 'Der Jubel senior) ((Parson in Jubilee,) 1797) ; Was Kam paner Thal' (1797) ; 'Titan' (1800) ; (Flegel jahre) (translated by Carlyle, (Wild Oats,' 1804). The two last are regarded as among
his best productions. 'Das heimliche Klaglied der jetzigen Manner) appeared in 1801; Katzenberger's Badereise (1809) ; 'Des Feld predigers Schmelzle Reise nach Flatz) (1809) ; 'Leben Fibels' (1812) ; (Der Komet, oder Nico laus Markgraf ) (1820-22) ; 'Die Vorschule der Aesthetik,) his first important philosophical work, appeared in 1804, followed by 'Levana, oder Erziehungslehre' (1807), a work on educa tion. Further titles are 'Friedenspredigt' (1808) ; (Dammerungen fur Deutschland' (1809) • 'Mars und PhObus' Thronwechsel im Jahr 1814' (1814) ; 'Politische Fastenpredigten) (1817. A collection of his works, (Sammt liche Werke,' edited by him before his death, was published in 65 volumes (1826-38). 'Der Papierdrache,) his last work, was published in 1845. Consult Spazier, R. 0., 'Jean Paul Fried rich Richter, ein biographisches Commentar zu dessen Werken' (1833) ; Carlyle's two essays on Richter; Forster, (Denkwfirdigkeiten aus dem Leben Richters) (1863) ; and Nerrlich, P., 'Jean Paul und seine (1889).